Siobhan's warm gaze tracks the progress of her youngest with amusement, and no small amount of exasperation. In many ways, Deirdre was the spitting image of her oldest sister Roisin. She was bold and fearless, with more than her fair share of imperial bossiness. She even tried to bully her older siblings when she thought she could get away with it, and no amount of gentle parenting - so far - had quelled her rebellious sort of joy.

And in truth? Siobhan didn't really want to temper it either. Seeing Deirdre like this was almost like going back in time to when Roisin had been this wild and carefree. Before Bjorn had left, and before she'd been taken prisoner. Back when her biggest concerns had been showing everyone she could find the waterfall that Sigurdr had shown her. Siobhan missed those days, and she regretted that they had not lasted nearly long enough for her firstborn. She was determined that Dee, at least, would be able to enjoy it just a little longer.

---

Dee squealed in laughter at the sound of her father in pursuit and dug into the ground with everything she had. Today was very clearly the day that she would beat her father since she had finally managed to outrun her mother for the better part of two hours yesterday. Dee, of course, wasn't about to admit that she was pretty sure momma had stopped playing somewhere around the fifteen minute mark. A win was a win, and Dee very much liked winning.

You are too fast for me dottir, he da murmurs as she runs ahead and she flushes with pride, slowing enough to be able to crane her neck back to check on him. Her intention had been to goad him into continuing, but to her displeasure, he was already beginning to give up and slow down. "Hey!" She shouted, irritation suffusing that single syllable. She slid to a halt and rolled back toward her father with her tiny little ears pinned back in frustration. "Da, you didn't even tryyyy!"

Not yet grown beyond the lure of a good tantrum, Deirdre soon took off in a series of crowhops and bucks that carried her far past either of her parents and back into range of her siblings. Only then did she stop with her tiny head held imperiously high so that she could affix her da with a glare befitting a much older mare. Fine. If da didn't want to play with her, then she would bother one of her other siblings instead.

---

"She is," Siobhan murmured gently, a wistful smile creeping onto her lips as the girl raced toward her siblings. "Like Roisin... and just as headstrong."

Amusement warmed her face, and she watched her youngest cavort off to the relative safety of her sibling group and then began to debate if it would be awkward for her to take her leave. Siobhan had studiously avoided nearly every moment of alone time they might have enjoyed out of respect for the relationship she could see between him and Tigerlily. The red mare well knew the limits of her own jealousy, and had no wish to make the new queen feel insecure in her role.

Plus, if she were honest with herself, she did not deserve Bjorn's attention while grieving the absence of her Ailill. It was bad enough that circumstances had demanded his participation in Deirdre's existence, and she wasn't eager to entangle him further in what clearly must be a painful reminder of the past. He, just like Tigerlily, deserved a fresh start without her dour influence. She couldn't give him that, not entirely, but she would shrink herself as much as she could to give their love a space to blossom.

Golden movement nearby had her flinching, and she stiffened immediately until the familiar markings registered in her mind. Siobhan released an audible breath of relief that carried Ysabel's name as greeting, and she reached eagerly for her long-time friend. It was not that she had forgotten that Ysabel had been the one to rescue her when the twins were born, but so much had happened since then that she had perhaps, naively assumed that word must have reached Ysabel of the change in her fates.

She was no longer the prisoner of Bjorn and Nyimara. Nor of Aranck. She had been captured and freed and recaptured again only to return to the peace of her family in the Ridge in the end. In truth, the only reason she dogged Bjorn's steps now had much more to do with the threat of Cullen than it did anything else. For better or worse, without the golden villain's influence, Siobhan would have likely stayed in the Ridge for the rest of her days.

Bjorn had already made up for his absence in her first imprisonment by freeing her in her second.

"Ysabel," she murmured fondly as the mare approached, only to stiffen slightly as the Cove Queen turned her angry gaze toward Bjorn and uttered the last question that Siobhan was expecting. Before she even had a chance to gather her thoughts, Tigerlily was stepping in to defend Bjorn and it was clear from the buckskin mare's tone that she resented the implication that Ysabel had made.

But it was a fair implication, even if it was no longer true.

Siobhan could feel the tension radiating in the air and hated the fact that she was the cause of it. In an attempt to relieve the discomfort, she stretched her muzzle out to touch Tigerlily's shoulder in a soothing gesture. "It's okay Lily." And then stepped forward. Siobhan was no queen - not anymore - but she was slowly becoming the master of her own destiny, and she would absolutely not stand to see her friendships be torn to bits because of a misunderstanding. Hopefully Tigerlily would understand her taking the reins in this one instance.

"I am this time, Ysabel. I promise." And she was, mostly. To come here had been her choice, but the circumstances that had pushed her back to Bjorn had been beyond her control. With a sick sort of feeling, Siobhan could imagine what it must look like to Ysabel. On one hand, if Siobhan was a captive, that would be at least an easy enough divide between good and bad. Bjorn would be the clear villain.

On the other hand, if she was not, did that not imply that Siobhan was, at least a little bit, the villain? After all, Ysabel had sacrificed her own chance at happiness with Ailill to grant it to her… and now here she was, with someone who was distinctly not Ailill.

"Ailill has been gone for some time," she began, hating the way that it made her sound as if she was simply hopping beds for whoever was home at the time. Shame flushed her cheeks and she ducked her gaze away from Bjorn, wishing that the world would just magically become simpler. "And I needed a break from our empty home."

Between the threat of Cullen, the absence of Ailill, and the growing pile of painful memories, the Ridge had become a prison of it's own… and while Siobhan couldn't say that she loved the Inlet or Tinuvel in general, she was glad to be somewhere else.

"But how have you been? Are you still in the Cove, with Solomon?" She was desperate to change the subject and to lighten the mood, especially given that Ysabel was her friend, and she sorely wanted to return to the easy sort of companionship they had once shared. Her gaze dipped down to the foal at her side and her face softened. Oblivious to the knife she was aiming at her golden friend's heart, Siobhan lowered her head in greeting to the boy and then turned her gaze back up to Ysa. "Is he yours? He's quite handsome."

---

Deirdre had, almost immediately, abandoned her plan of attacking her other siblings in favor of stalking the twins. With her golden brown coat, dark points and slinky posture she rather resembled the exact sort of large cat she was trying to emulate. She slunk closer with her nimble body low to the ground until she was close enough to grab at Skadi's tail, and then - without ever quite letting go of whatever she managed to grab - Dee dashed off with a high pitched giggle.

One way or another, someone was going to play chase with her.